A PENAL reform charity has revealed that arrests of juveniles by Thames Valley Police have fallen by 69 per cent over the last six years.

Research by the Howard League for Penal Reform found that the force made 2,446 arrests of children and young people aged 17 or under over the last year, compared to just over 8,000 back in 2010.

The Howard League hailed this as a major success. The charity strives to keep juveniles out of the criminal justice system, arguing that it fails to tackle underlying causes of crime such as drugs, abuse, neglect, or poor metal health.

A spokesman for the organisation said: “When bad things happen, we need to make sure they don't happen again. In prisons, there is little support for juveniles to turn their lives around. Academic research shows that the more entrenched children get in the justice system, the more re-offending there is.”

Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the charity, said: “This is a tremendous achievement, and we will continue to support police forces to develop their good practice and reduce the number to an absolute minimum.

“Thames Valley Police should be applauded for their positive approach, and the Howard League is proud to have played its part in a transformation that will make our communities safer.”

The drop in juvenile arrests by Thames Valley Police mirrors that of forces across England and Wales – where net arrests of juveniles have fallen by 64 per cent.

The Howard League was founded in 1886, and campaigns for an overhaul of the criminal justice system. The charity is highly critical of the current prison system, arguing that prisons are failing to give prisoners the support they need to escape a life of crime.

A spokesman for the organisation said: “We're in a situation where suicide in prisons is at a record high, violent incidents are at a record high, and self-injury is at a record high. With the huge overcrowding in prisons, prisoners are just locked in their cells for hours on end, without the support they need to turn their lives around.”

Despite the drop in juvenile arrests, the overall prison population has almost doubled over the last two decades.